Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said he believes Tennessee U.S. Representative David Kustoff’s (R-TN-08) vote on Friday against an amendment that would have ended the warrantless spying on United States citizens allowed under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) makes the congressman “ripe for a challenge” this election cycle.
Kustoff and Democrat Congressman Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) were the sole members of Tennessee’s congressional delegation to vote against the amendment on Friday, Pappert previously reported.
The amendment, proposed by U.S. Representatives Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05) and Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), specifically sought to ban “warrantless searches of U.S. person communications in the FISA 702 database, with exceptions for imminent threats to life or bodily harm, consent searches, or known cybersecurity threat signatures.”
Shortly after the legislation was defeated in a tie vote of 212-212, lawmakers voted to approve the renewal of FISA for two years.
“I am somewhat pleased to report that only one member of the Tennessee delegation to the U.S. House voted against the Biggs amendment, which would have basically gotten rid of these warrantless wiretaps through the FISA court and that is the one, the only, David Kustoff,” Pappert said on Friday’s episode of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show. “Tennessee has done fairly well, except for Representative Kustoff.”
Pappert agreed with Leahy, who noted how Kustoff’s vote against the amendment does not “reflect” what the state of Tennessee feels on the issue.
“I think that’s correct. I think that’s almost plainly easy to see,” Pappert said. “I think Kustoff is ripe for a challenge at this point.”
Currently, the only primary challenger to Kustoff is Shelby County resident Dr. George Flinn.
Flinn, who has run as a Republican and Independent candidate in U.S. Senate and primary races for Tennessee’s 8th and 9th Congressional districts, said he believes Kustoff “should not go unchallenged” considering the incumbent’s recent voting record on bills, particularly spending packages.
Last month, Kustoff voted with the majority of the U.S. House to pass a $1.2 trillion spending package which was criticized by fiscal conservatives for its lack of funding for the U.S.-Mexico border and other areas of interest.
In addition, last November, Kustoff was the only Tennessee Republican to vote against a House measure that would have blocked the construction of a new $375 million headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Maryland.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “David Kustoff” by David Kustoff.
